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Dynamical vertex correction to the generalized Kadanoff-Baym Ansatz

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Published 4 January 2023 Copyright © 2023 EPLA
, , Citation A. Kalvová et al 2023 EPL 141 16002 DOI 10.1209/0295-5075/acad9b

0295-5075/141/1/16002

Abstract

The generalized Kadanoff-Baym Ansatz, used to simplify the non-equilibrium Green's functions to the kinetic equation for the density matrix, leads to an incorrect dynamics of a system if the self-energy has a rich energy spectrum. We propose an approximation of the vertex correction which dynamically changes with the density matrix while it benefits from simplicity of stationary propagators. On the molecular bridge between ferromagnetic leads, we demonstrate that this simple vertex fixes the failure of the kinetic equation on a negligible computational cost.

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Introduction

The Non-Equilibrium Green's Functions (NEGF) are often used to formulate the fundamental equations of motion for highly perturbed many-body systems [1]. Less common is their direct numerical treatment since it represents a formidable task [211]. In order to simplify the NEGF equations of motion, an effective way is to approximate the double-time Green's function $G^<(t,t')$ by a functional of its time-diagonal element, the density matrix $\rho(t)=-{\rm i}\hbar G^<(t,t)$ . One of such approximations is the Generalized Kadanoff-Baym Ansatz (GKBA) [12], $G^<(t,t^\prime) \approx G_{GKBA}^<(t,t^\prime)=\rho(t)G^A(t,t^\prime)-G^R(t,t^\prime)\rho(t^\prime)$ , by which the NEGF equation of motion simplifies to the Generalized Master Equation (GME) for ρ. Recently, an effort is increasing to develop simple approximations beyond the GKBA [1319].

The GKBA is the zeroth order of an expansion, $G^<=G_{ GKBA}^<+{\cal F}^<$ , which includes vertex corrections 1  ${\cal F}^<$ , which are as complicated as the NEGF equation of motion. For their prohibitive complexity, there have been no attempts to include these vertex corrections into the GME, in spite of many implementations of the GKBA. Here we show that already a very simple approximation of vertex corrections can appreciably improve properties of the GME with only a minor increase in the numerical cost. We test this approximation on a molecular bridge between ferromagnetic leads. This system is sufficiently simple to be solved directly within the NEGF, at the same time, its dynamics is so complex that the GKBA fails.

In a previous paper [13] we have discussed the need for vertex corrections and tested a possibility to use the difference between the steady-state solution and the GKBA, ${\cal F}_\infty^<(t-t')=G_\infty^<(t-t')-\rho_\infty G^A(t-t^\prime)+G^R(t-t^\prime)\rho_\infty$ , to this end. The corrected GME resulting from the corrected GKBA, $G^<(t,t^\prime) \approx G_{ GKBA}^<(t,t^\prime)+{\cal F}_\infty^<(t-t')$ , converges to the known exact steady-state value, $\rho(t)\to\rho_\infty$ , while the GME approaches a limit which deviates from $\rho_\infty$ by tens of %, see figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 1:

Fig. 1: Time dependence of the probability $\rho_\uparrow(t)$ to find an electron of spin ↑ at the bridge atom after a sudden connection to leads at $t_0=0$ . Seven approximations of the GME are compared with the exact solution of NEGF equation of motion (red line). The non-interacting system, $U =0$ (upper panel), shows all basic features, the interaction, $U =0.6$ (lower panel), enhances the differences between individual approximations. The GKBA (black thick line) leads to incorrect asymptotic values at large times. The corrected GKBA (grey line) reaches correct asymptotic values, but it underestimates the time needed for the relaxation. Four lines are obtained from the kinetic equation (7) with different time arguments of $\rho_\uparrow(t_c)$ in the vertex correction $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ . The $t_c=\infty$ (light purple) closely follows the corrected GKBA. The $t_c=t$ (dark purple) is the Markovian vertex correction, while the main scattering integral is non-Markovian. The $t_c=\overline{\tau}$ (green) is an ad hoc test. The $t_c=\bar{t}$ (blue) is the dynamically corrected GKBA. For all vertex corrections, occupations $\rho_\uparrow$ merge at large times and deviate at intermediate times. The Markovian GME (thin black line) does not capture the quantum interferences, but results in the long-time evolution similar to the GKBA.

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Fig. 2:

Fig. 2: Time dependence of the probability of an initially occupied bridge. The color code is the same as in fig. 1.

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Although the correction ${\cal F}_\infty^<$ is vital, it has two drawbacks. First, its application is restricted to problems of relaxation towards a known steady state. Second, the vertices evolve in time while the function ${\cal F}_\infty^<(t,t')$ is independent of the center-of-mass time $(t+t')/2$ . Here, we use the NEGF to derive an approximation of ${\cal F}^<$ which covers full “long-time” dynamics, while the “short-time” vertex is in the steady-state approximation. In comparison with the exact solution, it will be shown that such dynamically corrected GME predicts the time evolution of $\rho(t)$ with better accuracy than the corrected GME. The additional numerical cost is minor (less then 10% in CPU for our study).

Basic equations

Let us remind the basic features of the model of a molecular bridge and the description of its time evolution with the NEGF. The bridge has only a single quantum state connected to two leads. Non-trivial dynamics of this simple model follows from the complex spin-dependent energy spectrum of leads which corresponds to the surface density of states of nickel, see the appendix for details. Tunneling through the bridge with the energy level between Fermi levels of leads combines a fast dynamics of spin ↓ electrons and a slow dynamics of spin ↑ electrons. Simple approximations based exclusively either on the short-time or long-time evolution thus fail to describe the coupled motion of both components.

The $G^<(t,t^\prime)$ is a projection on the bridge site. We do not assume spin flips, therefore the GF has only spin-diagonal elements $G_\uparrow$ and $G_\downarrow$ . The NEGF equation of motion,

Equation (1)

is complemented by the Dyson equation

Equation (2)

The on-site interaction is in the mean-field approximation, $\varepsilon_\sigma(t)=\varepsilon_b+U\rho_{\bar\sigma}(t)$ , with the spin-independent energy level $\varepsilon_b$ of an isolated atom. The spin ${\bar\sigma}$ is reverse to σ. Both equations have also their conjugate counterparts. As one can see from the lower integration limit, the contact of the bridge atom to leads is switched on at t0.

The self-energy Σ represents the coupling of the bridge to the leads. It is thus composed of two parts corresponding to the right and the left lead. Its individual elements $\Sigma^{A,R,<}_{\sigma;l,r}$ have equilibrium values given by the energy spectrum on the contact atom of each lead and the bias voltage. These functions are known, independent of the dynamics on the bridge, and depend exclusively on the time difference.

In the approximative treatment one starts from the time diagonal of eq. (1) (plus its conjugate)

Equation (3)

which is the precursor equation of the GME. The first (second) term at the right-hand side is the scattering-in (out) integral which describes the tunneling in (out of) the bridge. Since the tunneling self-energy $\Sigma^<$ is determined by electron distribution in the leads and the propagator GA is evaluated exactly, all approximations we discuss in this paper relate to the scattering-out integral. We suppress the spin indices unless they are necessary for understanding.

Equation (3) is converted to a closed equation for ρ when G< is approximated by a functional of ρ. A systematic way to such functionals is provided by the so-called reconstruction equation (RE) for $\bar{t} < t$  

Equation (4)

with the leading term $\rho G^A$ and the vertex corrections

Equation (5)

and

Equation (6)

Again, there is a conjugate equation for $\bar{t}>t$ , which we do not write, since it is not needed in our treatment.

By substitution of the RE (4) into the precursor equation (3) we obtain the kinetic equation

Equation (7)

Though both vertex corrections originate from the scattering-out, from the operational point of view, the vertex $\Lambda^{\rm in}$ acts as a correction to the scattering-in while the vertex $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ is a correction to scattering-out. Equation (7) is not yet closed, because the vertex $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ is a function of G<.

Approximations of the vertex

The treatment of the vertices $\Lambda^{\rm in,out}$ distinguishes individual approximations discussed in this paper.

  • a)  
    The GKBA neglects both vertices, $\Lambda^{\rm in,out}\approx 0$ .
  • b)  
    The corrected GKBA [13],
    Equation (8)
    extends the GKBA by the steady-state correction ${\cal F}^<_\infty=G^<_\infty-\rho_\infty G^A_\infty$ . In terms of the Λ functions, this correction reads $\int_{\bar t}^t \mathrm{d}\bar\tau(\Lambda^{\rm in}(\bar t,\bar\tau)+ \Lambda^{\rm out}(\bar t,\bar\tau))G^A(\bar\tau,t)\approx {\cal F}^<_\infty(\bar t-t)$ .
  • c)  
    The dynamically corrected GKBA uses the steady-state vertex of the tunneling-in, $\Lambda^{\rm in}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau})\approx\Lambda^{\rm in}_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau})$ , and the vertex correction of tunneling-out in the form
    Equation (9)
    where
    Equation (10)
    and $\Xi(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\approx\Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ is its approximation by the asymptotic steady-state value.
  • d)  
    To test sensitivity of the vertex correction to the retardation of the occupation ρ, we evaluate also three extreme cases of the form $\Lambda^{\rm out}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau})\approx\rho(t_c)\Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau})$ , where the time $t_c=\infty,t,\overline{\tau}$ is selected so that the vertex function is numerically feasible.

Our major interest is in the approximation c) first introduced in this paper. To understand its properties we have to make a comparison of all approximations a)–d). The performance of individual approximations is shown in figs. 1 and 2 in contrast to the direct numerical solution of the NEGF equation of motion 1.

a) The apparent failure of the GKBA for this system has been known, and it has stimulated the proposal of the corrected GKBA [13]. The main disagreement with the exact result consists in the incorrect steady-state limit of the GME. In fig. 1 for U = 0, the GME converges to 0.88 while the exact occupation of spin ↑ is 0.73. For $U=0.6$ , the GME limit 0.72 is twice larger than the exact value 0.34.

b) The corrected GKBA is a way to impose the correct steady-state limit. Let us show it for non-interacting electrons, $U =0$ , when $G^A(\bar{t},t)= G^A_\infty(\bar{t}-t)$ at any times. For t → , the precursor equation (3) yields

Equation (11)

At large times t → , we subtract eq. (11) from the precursor equation (3) obtaining the relaxation of ρ to $\rho_\infty$ ,

Equation (12)

In figs. 1 and 2 one can see that with the corrected GKBA the occupation $\rho_\uparrow$ converges to $\rho_{\uparrow}^{\infty}$ faster then the exact solution. Briefly, in this approximation the target value is correct but the relaxation rate is too high.

c) In the dynamically corrected GKBA for $G^<_\sigma$ , the essential simplification of the vertex correction is given by the time argument of ρ. A straightforward iteration of the RE xxxx4, i.e., the use of the GKBA in the vertex correction, yields $\Lambda^{\rm out}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\approx -\int_{t_0}^{\bar{t}}\mathrm{d}t'G^R(\bar{t},t') \rho(t')\Sigma^A(t',\overline{\tau}\,)$ . The integration over $t'$ inside time integrals over $\bar{t}$ and $\overline{\tau}$ makes this iteration prohibitively demanding. To reduce the dimension of time integration, we employ the non-retarded Ansatz $G^<(\bar{t},t')\approx -\rho(\bar{t})G^R(\bar{t},t')$ derived below.

Within the non-retarded Ansatz, the remaining time integrals can be simplified. Both vertex corrections (5) and (6) depend on $\rho_{\bar\sigma}$ via the energy level $\varepsilon_\sigma(t)$ . We have evaluated $\Lambda^{\rm in}$ and Ξ in the limit $t_0\to -\infty$ , when $\Lambda^{\rm in}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\to \Lambda^{\rm in}_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ and $\Xi(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\to \Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ , using $\varepsilon_\sigma(t)\approx\varepsilon_\sigma(\infty)$ . The advanced function GA in all integrals of the kinetic equation (7) is not approximated, i.e., it is obtained from the Dyson equation (2) with the time-dependent energy level $\varepsilon_\sigma(t)$ . To this end both spin components, $\rho_\uparrow$ and $\rho_\downarrow$ , are solved together. We present only $\rho_\uparrow$ which reveals larger differences between individual approximations.

Let us motivate the approximation of the vertex $\Lambda^{\rm in}$ . Hopjan et al. [16] use the steady-state Green's function as an alternative to the GKBA and show that it works well for the time-dependent tunneling problem. Here we also use the steady-state approximation, but in the vertex corrections only.

In the discussed molecular bridge, the selfenergy Σ represents the embedding not the electron-electron interaction. Accordingly, functions $\Sigma^R(t,t')= \Sigma^R(t-t')$ and $\Sigma^<(t,t')=\Sigma^<(t-t')$ are known, see their Fourier picture in the appendix. The vertex $\Lambda^{\rm in}_\sigma$ depends only on the density of electrons with the reversed spin $\rho_{\bar\sigma}$ via the mean-field energy level $\varepsilon_\sigma(t)=\varepsilon_b+U\rho_{\bar\sigma}(t)$ . We have numerically tested this dependency for the on-site interaction $U=0.6$ and found that $\rho_\sigma$ changes only by few percents if we use $\Lambda^{\rm in}_\sigma$ of the non-interacting system. This low sensitivity allows us to use $\rho_{\bar\sigma}(t)\approx\rho_{\bar\sigma}^\infty$ , where the $\rho_{\bar\sigma}^\infty$ is either the known steady-state value or the value at large time obtained within iterations. For the constant energy level $\varepsilon_\sigma=\varepsilon_b+U\rho_{\bar\sigma}^\infty$ and the limit $t_0\to-\infty$ , the integral 10 depends only on the difference time, $\Xi(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)=\Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ .

d) Ad hoc approximations $\Lambda^{\rm out}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\approx\rho(t_c) \Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ with $t_c=\infty,t,\overline{\tau}$ serve to clarify properties of the vertex correction. Let us start with neglecting the time dependence of ρ using its asymptotic value $\rho_\infty$ , i.e., $t_c=\infty$ . This approximation leads to the time evolution nearly identical to the corrected GKBA, compare gray and light purple lines in figs. 1 and 2. It documents that the dynamically corrected GKBA differs from the corrected GKBA namely by the dynamics of the occupation.

A more realistic choice is to evaluate the vertex correction at time t from the occupation at the same time, $t_c=t$ . The kinetic equation (7) has a form $\dot\rho(t)=\ldots-\rho(t){\cal S}(t)$ , where dots stand for the three first terms of (7) and

Equation (13)

represents the vertex correction to the tunneling out. In fig. 1, for U = 0, this simple and numerically very convenient Markovian choice closely follows the exact solution of NEGF. This extremely good result is fortuitous and appears when the occupation increases in time so that $\rho(t)>\rho(\bar{t})$ . The approximation then enhances the vertex correction. For the decreasing occupation the Markovian vertex correction is worse than the dynamically corrected GBKA, see fig. 2.

We have also tested the approximation $\Lambda^{\rm out}(\bar{t},\overline{\tau}\,)\approx\rho(\overline{\tau})\Xi_\infty(\bar{t}-\overline{\tau}\,)$ . It requires more numerical effort and leads to a comparably good agreement with the exact result as the above approximation, see figs. 1 and 2. The resulting occupation $\rho_\uparrow$ stays always between the dynamically corrected GKBA and the Markovian vertex correction.

How the choice of time argument tc affects the kinetic equation can be understood from the individual scattering integrals shown in fig. 3. Both vertex corrections form during the first femtosecond and undergo only minor changes at later times. The $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ is proportional to the occupation $\rho_\uparrow(t_c=\bar{t})$ . Using different $t_c >\bar{t}$ leads to an enhanced/reduced $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ for growing/falling occupation of the bridge. The enhancement of $\Lambda^{\rm out}$ correction increases the occupation of the bridge. These trends are confirmed by fig. 2 which shows that for a decreasing occupation, all approximations with $t_c >\bar{t}$ are worse than the dynamically corrected GBKA.

Fig. 3:

Fig. 3: Scattering integrals of the kinetic equation (7) with the dynamically corrected GKBA for the interaction $U=0.6$ . The thick black lines are the scattering-in (upper half-plane) and the scattering-out (lower half-plane) in the GKBA. The thick blue lines are first (upper half-plane) and second (lower half-plane) terms of (7) with the dynamically corrected GKBA. The scattering-in with the GKBA and the dynamically corrected GKBA differ exclusively because of the interaction $U\rho_\downarrow$ . The scattering-out also reflects this interaction effect, but major differences follow from the vertex corrections. The $\Lambda^{\rm in/out}$ correction given by the third/fourth term of (7) (thin brown line in the lower/upper half-plane) reduces the rate with which electrons tunnel in/out of the bridge. Their sum (thick brown line) pumps electrons out and reduces the occupation of the bridge.

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Non-retarded Ansatz

The non-retarded Ansatz is the zeroth-order approximation of the non-retarded RE. Here we derive this expansion analogous to the RE (4).

For $t >t'$ the function ${\cal G}_\sigma(t,t')=-\theta(t-t')G_\sigma^<(t,t')$ obeys

Equation (14)

We have used eq. (1) to evaluate $\partial_{t'}G^<$ . Subtracting ${\cal G}\Sigma^R$ from both sides and multiplying by GR we arrive at the non-retarded RE

Equation (15)

where $\Gamma={\rm i}(\Sigma^R-\Sigma^A)$ .

An approximation of G< by the first term,

Equation (16)

can be called the non-retarded Ansatz, because the multiplication by GR from the right hand side does not respect the causal structure of the NEGF: retarded $\times <\times$ advanced. We note that the non-retarded Ansatz thus cannot be obtained by a functional derivative of the causal expansion [20].

We use the non-retarded Ansatz exclusively in the vertex correction. To test its fidelity, we have used (16) to convert the precursor equation into an equation for ρ, and have arrived at a Markovian GME. In figs. 1 and 2 we show that the Markovian GME provides a time evolution very similar to the (retarded) GME, except for quantum interferences at the early stage. This indicated that the non-retarded Ansatz might be a sufficiently good approximation for the internal function of the vertex correction.

Discussion and conclusions

We have demonstrated a feasibility of employing approximate vertex corrections to the GKBA in kinetic equations of the GME type. An appreciably improved agreement between the corrected GME and the exact solution obtains even with vertices evaluated from rather crude approximations based on stationary values of propagators. Thanks to these approximations, the vertices increase the computational cost by less than 10% as compared to the (uncorrected) GME.

The dynamically corrected GKBA is derived directly from the complete vertex corrections. Solutions of the corresponding dynamically corrected GME converge to static limits which are much closer to the exact ones than solutions of the (uncorrected) GME. For future implementations, it is essential that the dynamically corrected GKBA does not employ a known steady-state solution. It can be thus applied also to systems which do not evolve towards a steady state. Although our model includes only a single quantum state, the non-retarded RE has a general form valid for any matrix structure of G<.

The tunneling self-energy of our model $\Sigma^<$ is independent of the GF G<. In interacting systems, this dependence is crucial and the RE has to be used also for functions in $\Sigma^<[G^<,G^>]$ . A full evaluation of the vertex corrections then might be excessively demanding. Perhaps these corrections can be evaluated at selected time instants and used as an estimate of the contributions neglected by GKBA.

Acknowledgments

The work was supported by project 21-11089S of the Grant Agency of Czech Republic.

Data availability statement: All data that support the findings of this study are included within the article (and any supplementary files).

Appendix:: model of tunneling bridge

All components of the self-energy are functions of the time difference, $\Sigma(t,t')=\Sigma(\tau)$ , where $\tau=t-t'$ . The self-energy represents coupling to the left and the right junction which contribute independently, $\Sigma=\Sigma_L+\Sigma_R$ . Individual parts depend on the nickel lead surface density of states (SDOS) via the spectral function of the self-energy

Equation (A.1)

as

Equation (A.2)

Other components are analogous. The Fermi-Dirac distribution in leads f is taken at the room temperature. The junction is biased by the voltage $V=\mu_L-\mu_R$ . More about this model the reader can find in [14,2123].

The failure of the plain GME follows from the rich energy dependency of the local density of state at the bridge $\tilde A$ , where the tilde denotes Fourier picture of $A=i(G^R-G^A)$ . The $\tilde A$ depends on the position of the bridge energy level with respect to the surface density of states in contacts shown in fig. 4 and the coupling strength $\lambda_{L,R}$ , therefore it depends on the spin and the bias, as well as on the occupation of the bridge by electrons of the reversed spin.

Fig. 4:

Fig. 4: Sketch of the electronic structure of the magnetic bridge. To the left and to the right, leads are represented by tunneling functions (up spin in gray color, down spin in green). The leads are given a symmetrical bias V, as given by the shifts of the quasi-Fermi levels $\mu_{L,R}\pm V/2$ with respect to the bare electron $\varepsilon_b$ (heavy black central line) of the island center. The tunneling functions float together with $\mu_{L,R}$ . The red profiles in the center are the steady-state spectral densities $\tilde A_{\sigma}(E)$ . The parameters are kept at standard values: bias $V=1.2\,{\rm eV}$ , coupling constants $\lambda_{L,R}=1$ . The Coulomb $U=0.0\ \text{eV}$ .

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Footnotes

  • In the spirit of the Ward identity approach to the GKBA [20], we call terms beyond the GKBA the vertex correction.

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